


A witch in the woods

by Allistorm



Series: Sofia [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Many others to come - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Bifrost, Dark Magic, Dimension Travel, Multiverse, Odin is mentioned, Space vortex, The Veil, Time Vortex, Witch - Freeform, i guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23667025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allistorm/pseuds/Allistorm
Summary: Every kid likes to think they're special. They daydream about their favourite heroes saving the day, and maybe they imagine themselves right there with them. What kid hasn't wished, hoped, yearned to have superpowers?But, they say careful what you wish for, and for a reason.Being the only one with powers in your whole universe is great, right? Wrong.Being a dark magic user in an otherwise magically-sterile universe is a giant pain in the ass. And dangerous, and lonely.I should know. I was there once.My name is Sofia, and this is my story.
Series: Sofia [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704103
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	A witch in the woods

**Author's Note:**

> This is planned as a collection of stories, with Sofia (my OC) as the main character. She'll be travelling through different fandoms and meeting new people, discovering new worlds and herself in the process. This is the first work, an origin story, kind of. Enjoy.

'A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest,

Because she should be absolutely certain in the depths of her soul,

That the most terrifying thing in the forest,

Was her.'

by: slytherinnheadgirl

* * *

She stood by the road, gaping blackness of the forest in front of her, and the headlights of the car she stole shining behind her. The lights cast her long shadow between the trees, and for a second she felt like it was a sign. Meaning that she was greater than the forest. Certainly, if she were to enter, she would be the most dangerous creature inside.

In the distance, police sirens whined their high-pitched tune. Her heart sped up, adrenaline taking over.

She stepped into the forest.

* * *

She was six when she already knew how to read and write. A year before she was meant to start her education. She knew numbers as well, she could count to a hundred. Many of her more conservative relatives, especially uncles and aunts who were her parents' big brothers and sisters, told her mommy and daddy that they shouldn't have taught her so far in advance.

'What can we do? She's curious. We can't ignore her questions. And besides, there's no harm in her learning things, as long as she enjoys learning, we're happy.' Said her father. Sofia knew her daddy was very smart. He was a teacher in the big kid's school.

_The uni-universal... the university._

Sofia nodded to herself firmly, getting the name right, and ignored her auntie Liz (Mom's eldest sister) muttering about 'modern parenting'. Her mummy was a writer! She wrote stories everybody loved. Even the grumpy lady across the street read them (Sofia saw her reading it in the park, while she was sitting on the bench after walking that nasty little dog of hers). She may be as yappi as her chihuahua, but she read her mother's books, so Sofia was nice to her and said hello every time she passed her in the street. She even ignored it when the lady said that a physicist and a writer won't last.

The lady also said Sofia was too curious for her own good, and knew too much for her age.

She ignored that too.

Even at such a young age, she often saw and understood more than the adults around her. Because of her age, she had to ignore most of it. Pretend she didn't see, or heard. It made her feal like a liar.

* * *

Walking into the forest in the middle of the night might be suicidal for anyone but her. If they didn't get eaten by wild animals they would surely fall, unable to see in the dark, and twist their necks. 

For her, it was easy. The light from the full moon was enough. Her senses enhanced, the nature around her responding eagerly as always. Her steps were hurried, but sure. She wouldn't run. She was tired of it. As she headed deeper into the wilderness, leaving the police cars and the road behind, she felt like she was turning her back forever on the life she had. On her humanity. And in a way, she was.

She couldn't stay. There was nothing but humans in this world, and she knew for a long time that is not who she was. A witch, perhaps. But not human. 

So she kept walking.

* * *

When she was twelve, and the top of her class in every subject, she asked her dad about his work. He explained it to her, patient in the face of her curiosity as always. His theory about life outside of their planet fascinated her.

'But what if there was no one?' She asked. By then, both her parents were well used to her abilities, and accepted her as she was, special.

'Why do you think so?' He asked, well aware that she was far past childish imagination, her perception of the world may be different, but was often right.

'Well,' she looked uncertain for a second, but then continued, 'I had dreams, of space and stuff. Stars and planets. And they all felt cold.'

'Cold?' Her fathered scowled in confusion,' Weren't the stars at least warm?'

She shook her head: 'They all felt cold, lonely.' Suddenly a haunted expression overtook her face. He understood what she spoke of, and if it was true, then... Then their planet would be the only one with life.

' Sweetheart, are you sure? Do you know what that means?' 

She nodded her head. And he didn't doubt her, seeing the wisdom in her eyes that went beyond her years, and beyond human experience. 

'But...'

'Yes?' He urged.

' There are other worlds. And they're more colourful that ours. More lights, and warmth. Many people.'

He was amazed, as a father and as a scientist, it was hard to believe she was telling the truth, but in the last 12 years, he witnessed her abilities enough to know that nothing about her should be possible. So he decided to accept her words as truth.

Shyly, she looked outside and into the bright sky, as if she could see the worlds she spoke of: 'Maybe even someone like me.'

Seeing the greave and loneliness that didn't belong on a child's face, he decided to cheer her up with ice-cream and her favourite movie. The serious stuff set aside, for now. But not forgotten.

After that day a certain professor, and a father of an extraordinary daughter, started working on a Multiverse theory. A theory of many universes, vibrating on a different frequency, and therefore unable to coexist in the same reality. And yet all existing at the same time. And if someone were to manipulate energy, theoretically, they would be able to travel between them...

* * *

Once she felt she was far enough, she decided to stop and just... breathe. She was tired. To the point of her bones feeling brittle, like one push would turn them to dust, and her mind feeling like a timed bomb, overloaded and ready to explode. 

Remembering was painful. Remembering her father's research made her remember all the other moments, family, warmth, safety.

Then the newest memory. Rain, slippery road. Her world turned upside down, a violent lurch and a crash. Broken glass, bent metal, scent of blood. 

Her voice, calling out. Listening for a response.

Three heartbeats turning into one.

Flashing lights and worried voices, too late. TOO LATE!

The detective in the hospital. The questions.

'How did the crash happen?'

'What did she remember between the crash and the rescue team arriving?'

'Why are her parents dead, bodies mutilated by laws of physics, and she got out without a scratch?'

They let her attend the funeral. People gave their condolences. But she was like a zombie. Shock.

She never told them, no matter how often they asked. Later, when the coffins were buried, they took her, and nobody stopped them. She let them. 

She didn't want to fight.

It took her months to recover, mentally that is. Physically, she was fine. They made sure of that. They did blood tests, scans, but they never hurt her. If she wasn't locked in a room most of the time, wasn't unable to leave, it would almost be humane.

She actually minded the questions more than exams. 

But she never told them. Never told them the truth.

And the truth was: She _did_ die. 

She could only explain it as part of her abilities. Gifts she never showed them, never hinted at having. The only ones who knew were her parents, and they died. She wished she did too. Or at least, that she _stayed_ that way.

But once she did recover, she understood that was not what they would have wanted. But, she had nothing left now, nothing tying her to this world in which she so clearly didn't belong. 

So she slipped through shadows, into the world outside. Stole a car, sparks on her fingers waking up the engine and she drove out as far away from the city as she could before the gas lamp started blinking. She parked by the road and walked the rest of the way.

Her father perfected the Multiverse theory by the time she was 18. He even based it on her abilities. In theory, she manipulated the energy inside atoms, and therefore manipulated the atoms, and in extension all they were made of. In reality, her powers manifested as shadows and blue energy, either sparks or fire. Later, much later, and in a very different world, she'll learn that her powers are called dark magic. Manipulation of negative energy, dark matter, darkness. Chaos. 

To travel between worlds, she'll need to find a weak spot in the veil between them, the vortex. But her world was sealed, unlike others. She figured it was because it was the only one that was sterile magic-wise and only had life on earth. After she told him this, her father then developed a theory that, if she could transfer her state into that of pure energy, she'll be able to pass through the seal.

But that kind of energy manipulation could potentially leave a massive backlash on the entering site.

That is why she's in the middle of nowhere right now. So she doesn't risk hurting anyone. 

Taking a deep breath, and casting a last glance at the night sky, she closed her eyes and reached deep within her. Her magic primal, instinctual, reacting to thought rather than spells, words or runes.

One second, she was a human girl standing in the middle of the woods at night, the next, she was a being of electricity, energy, blue and human-like in shape. Another moment and she was gone, leaving blackened earth and ash in the place of foliage.

She found herself in the vortex, place between places, the nothingness. It wasn't black, as she expected, but swirling with colours. It was empty though. Nothing living could survive here. 

She didn't know how long she was inside, there was no time in this place, after all. She drifted, all lightning and energy, and let herself truly heal. She could feel the worlds beyond the veil. The magic that they held. It felt... refreshing. Like jumping into cool water on a hot summer day. Like coming home, in a way.

Like freedom.

It could have been a day, a year, a century, when she came upon a passage. It was one of many, but it leads into the world with the biggest energy output, the one with the most... well, the most. The richest. So she took it. She moved forward, and she never looked back.

* * *

**Asguard, Bifrost:**

Heimdall, the guardian of the passage, and the watcher of the realms was not having a good day. Well, rather, it was good, until now. No unrest in the realms, no danger. But then, this happens. In his long life, he has seen Bifrost activate without his doing only a handful of times, usually by Odin. But, he could see the allfather clearly, and it was not him this time. As the colours swirled in the golden chamber, a figure stepped out, a being of energy with a human shape. Shadows from every cornered seemed to rush towards her, and in the next moment in front of him stood a girl dressed in black, armour-like attire. The fabric looked both soft and yet impenetrable, magic. Dark magic, turning shadows into solid objects.

'Um, hello.' She sounded young, blue eyes curiously examining her surroundings. But not afraid, posture relaxed, but firm enough to react in a second, a warrior. 'Apologies for coming unannounced, but, I'm a bit lost. Could you tell me where I am, exactly?'

Feeling a headache coming up, he resigned to just take the obviously not hostile visitor to Odin and be done with it.

'You are in Asguard, I am Heimdall, the gatekeeper, and who are you?'

She looked unsure for a second, then: 'Sofia, I am Sofia.'

**Author's Note:**

> The other works won't be posted chronologically, there will be more fandoms involved. But, I hope you enjoy them or at least check them out. This is just an intro, so you know the basics about our main character, and I expect to be posting the next work soon.   
> Leave a kudos, maybe even a comment, see ya around.   
> Stay safe, and stay home.


End file.
